The Last Day of Summer
by LVR6
Summary: What exactly happened when Qrow had to break the news to Taiyang about Summer's passing?


The Last Day of Summer

* * *

Qrow came stumbling in to the Taiyang's home, knocking on the door a bit too loudly. He took another swig from his flask as the door opened. The lilac-eyed man stared at him with annoyance.

"What are you doing here, Qrow?" he asked tiredly.

"Aren't cha going to invite 'e in?" he slurred impatiently. Taiyang pinched the bridge of his nose, but opened the door to his friend. "Thanks."

"Is there any reason your drunk? You've never liked drinking."

"I'm not drunk," he grumbled with a hiccup. "Alrigh' maybe I'm a liddle drunk. What does tha matter?"

"Keep it down Qrow, you'll wake the girls!" he whispered harshly. "Do you know how hard it is to put Yang to sleep? She's been acting up since Summer was sent on that mission."

"Thas why I'm 'ere," he replied shortly. Taiyang looked a bit shocked, as his friend's attitude was always laid back and carefree. He began to feel a pit in his stomach.

"What happened?"

"It's Summer," Qrow answerd vaguely. His expressions changed several times, as if he wasn't sure how to tell him. Finally, he remained quiet and solemn.

"Qrow, what's going on?" he asked again, raising his voice unintentionally. The two Signal teachers didn't notice the little blond girl watching from the stairs. She had heard her uncle arrive, and wanted to surprise him, as any seven-year-old would.

"She's gone Tai," Qrow finally replied, his drunken state seemingly vanishing.

"What do you mean?" asked Taiyang, the pit in his stomach growing. "Is she in trouble? Did she get hurt?"

"Damn it, Tai, she's gone!" repeated Qrow in anger. "Summer has been missing for weeks, and they finally made it official; she's MIA."

"No, that can't be," teared up Taiyang. "That's impossible. Did you send in scout teams to find her?"

"I personally went to find her," admitted Qrow, shifting his demeanor. He reached into his pocket and took out a piece of cloth that was white on one side and red on the other. On the white side was a torn symbol of a rose. "This was all I found… I'm sorry Tai, but she's dead."

Yang's eyes widened in shock. Her mother was dead? How could this have happened? She felt her eyes water, and walked down the stairs to the two Huntsmen.

"Mama is dead?" she asked, hoping she had hear wrong. The two adults stiffened at her young broken voice. They looked at her with downtrodden expressions, but stayed silent. She walked to her uncle, who she had heard it from. "You said Mom is dead?" she asked again. Qrow couldn't bear to look at her, and simply nodded while turning away.

"I'm sorry sunshine," he said, feeling his heart break even more. Yang looked over to her father, who had fallen back onto his chair. He just stared at the floor, completely speechless.

"Dad… what does it mean to be dead?" Yang asked. She had heard the word used before, but only when it came to monsters. Her mother wasn't a monster, so maybe it meant something else. Unfortunately, he didn't respond. Her little voice never reached his ears, and he continued to stare at the floor. "Uncle Qrow?"

"It means that she's gone forever," Qrow replied bluntly. He didn't know how else to talk to a child, but Tai had broken down much like he did earlier that day. He looked down to the little blonde girl, and witnessed her heart break. She began to sniffle a little, but Qrow knelt down and gave her a hug. "I know it's tough kid, I'm going to miss her too. Just remember, ever since you were little, you were mom's little ball of golden sunshine. Don't ever stop shining, even if it hurts, ok?" His voice began to break, and felt tears streaming down his face. "And make sure you take care of your little sister. She's just a little flower right now, and every flower needs the sun to grow. Can you do that for me?"

"Do what?" sobbed Yang.

"Be the sun in your Ruby's life. Protect her, and be strong. You take after you father, so I know you can handle anything that this world has to throw at you. It's not going to be easy," he said, grabbing her little seven-year-old hands, "but anything you touch will turn to gold if you shine bright enough."

"I-I think I can shine," she replied, wiping her tears away. She broke from the hug, and did her best to smile. "Like this?"

"That's perfect," Qrow smiled, ruffling her hair. He felt a pang of guilt at his request. Yang was still just a little girl herself, and he was asking so much of her. It wasn't long before the youngest member of the family made her way down the stairs. She was wiping the sleepiness from her eyes, and held on to a stuffed Beowolf toy.

"What's goin on?" she asked innocently. Qrow and Yang looked at the little five-year-old, and looked distraught. Why was she awake? Ruby opened her eyes and saw her uncle, and all fatigue disappeared. "Uncle Qrow!" she shouted, running over to hug him. "You're here! Did you miss me, did you miss me?"

"Hey," Qrow greeted gently. He looked over to Taiyang, but he was still in shock. "Listen, I have some bad news, kid." The girl's smile didn't falter, and watched him with wide eyes. She was not making it easy for him. "It's about your mom."

"Is she back too?" she asked excitedly, looking over her shoulder to see if her mother was hiding somewhere.

"No, she's not coming back," he said solemnly. Ruby looked at him confused, and then to Yang, who was already trying to dry her tears.

"What do you mean?" she asked softly.

"Ruby, mom is gone," cried Yang. Ruby looked at her older sister, and felt strange.

"That's not funny," Ruby replied, looking at the two. "Why would you say that?"

"It's true, kid."

"I'm sorry Rubes," said Yang, walking over to her sister.

"Stop it! Why are you lying? Where's mom?" she cried. "When she gets back, I'm telling her that you're playing mean jokes again!"

"Ruby, she's not coming back," Qrow said sternly, mustering all the experience he had as a Huntsman. How ironic that he could stare into the eyes of any Grimm he'd encountered, but the watering eyes of a five-year-old girl made him want to turn tail and run. Ruby shook her head, and ran into her room.

"STOP LYING!" she shouted as she made her way up the stairs. Slamming the door behind her, she curled into her bed, and cried softly. Why were they playing such mean tricks on her?

* * *

It has been weeks, and Ruby hadn't spoken a word to Yang. She was still mad at her for saying those mean things, and spent nearly every day on the porch of their home waiting for her mother. It was only a matter of time, she always came home. She didn't notice the crows watching her, and she began to feel sad again. It doesn't make sense, Yang and Qrow were always nice to her, and suddenly, the made up mean lies. Her mom was a superhero, and heroes always win; she's read every fairytale and it was essentially the law of the world. Bad things only happened to bad people, and her mom was the nicest person she knew. Crossing her arms in defiance, she kept repeating the infallible five-year-old logic in her head.

* * *

Ruby's fourteenth birthday had come, and she spent it like every other year. She went on a picnic with her mom in the evening. She spread a red and white checkered blanket in front of the small grave, and opened up her basket.

"Hey mom," she greeted cheerfully. "It's my birthday today, but I guess you already knew that. I brought us cookies!" she exclaimed excitedly reaching into her basket. "They're not as good as the ones you made, but they're still good. I also brought strawberries, but I ate most of them already. So, um, what's new? I'm still going to Signal, and so is Yang, but she's going to Beacon next year! I don't know if she's as excited as I am. She's still the same old Yang, you know? Happy and smiling all the time. I try to be like her, but I'm still not good at making new friends. Not that I don't have any! I do… they're the same ones from before, you know?" Ruby sat silently for a while, and looked at the stone, and read it for the millionth time. "I hope I can make you proud mom… Uncle Qrow taught me a lot, and so has dad, but sometimes, I just want to know your cookie recipe…" she said with tears in her eyes. "You know, the way they were crispy on the edges, but were soft in the middle? I've been practicing, but they still come out burnt. I'm ok at baking cakes though. I guess I just want to spend one last day with you, just so I can hear you sing to me again… I don't remember what song you sang because after you left nobody was happy enough to sing it anymore…" Ruby wiped her eyes, and took a deep breath. After composing herself, she had a smile on her face once more. It was getting dark out, and she didn't want to worry her dad.  
"Well, I'll talk to you soon," she waved, although in her heart, she still had a part that was waiting for her to come home. Summer wasn't dead, she was just late.


End file.
